


H-Happy Birthday to Me

by zenonaa



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 04:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3474755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenonaa/pseuds/zenonaa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fukawa celebrates her birthday for the first time that she can remember.</p>
            </blockquote>





	H-Happy Birthday to Me

“Happy birthday, Fukawa-chan,” chirruped Aoi, backed by a chorus of mutters and yells that echoed her sentiments.

Touko froze in the doorway of the cafeteria. A banner was pinned to the far wall, over the door that led into the kitchen, and neat calligraphy spelled out ‘Happy birthday, Fukawa!’ in blue on it. Edging into the room, her foot bumped against one of the many balloons with ribbon tails that decorated the floor.

Mondo sat at one of the tables, cheeks red as he pinched the bottom of a blue balloon and tied it into a knot. He swatted the balloon away and it united with its brethren at his feet.

It bounced a few times and when it stilled, Touko reluctantly looked back at the swarm of students that stared at her in wait of a reaction.

“W-What is this?” asked Touko though it was very obvious what this was.

“Today’s your birthday, isn’t it?” said Aoi, as obnoxiously bright as ever.

“It is...” Touko fitted a fingernail between her teeth, surveying the room again. Her skin prickled at the constant staring. “I thought you would forget...”

Aoi pouted. “Of course not, Fukawa-chan. We’ve all been planning this for a while now.”

A chill shot up Touko’s back and she wrung her hands. She shifted a foot back, preparing escape. “A... A while...? Just what sort of practical joke did you concoct in that time...?”

Kiyotaka thumped himself on the chest with a fist. “After you told Asahina-kun that you have never celebrated your birthday, we thought that this would be a great opportunity to host a party and brighten everyone’s spirits. It was quite the learning experience, preparing a gathering of this nature.”

“D-Did she also tell you that I said I hate parties?”

“No one hates parties,” said Aoi, breaking away from the group and dashing forward. She seized Touko’s hand before Touko had time to pivot on her heel and flee. “We’ve got games, snacks, cake...”

“I don’t care,” replied Touko, dismayed to find that Aoi was stronger and more stubborn than she was, and she squirmed all the way to the centre table that Aoi dragged her over to.

Aoi pushed her down onto a chair positioned at the head of the table that gave Touko a clear view across it. Touko expected her classmates to sit with her but they didn’t, at least not for the time being, instead gathering in a cluster behind her. Shoulders hunched, she turned and counted the faces hovering around her chair. It appeared that everyone had decided to show up, even those who disliked such social events like Byakuya. Perhaps he decided to make an exception for her. That was it. Not even him saying otherwise would convince her of anything else being the reason.

Touko faced forward again and blinked twice.

Miscellaneous objects wrapped in different materials sat upon the pink cloth spread across the tabletop. She spotted a present encased in the shiny inner wrapper of a chocolate bar, and the larger presents were bundled in either printer paper or newspaper. Some of the presents, mostly the smaller ones, looked almost like the presents that she saw at the few parties which she attended more than a decade ago, at the age when most children invited the whole class to their parties and hadn’t yet built prejudice against others.

“Here, open mine first,” said Aoi. She thrust a wad of newspaper toward Touko.

Receiving a gift for existing was a novel enough idea that Touko ripped through the newspaper to uncover what was inside rather than insist that she go back to her room.

Seconds later, she lifted out a navy swimsuit.

“Well?” asked Aoi, bobbing up and down on her toes.

“What’s the catch?” Touko gave the swimsuit a little shake so it fluttered. “Has it got itching powder in it? C-Chemicals that become corrosive when in contact with water? Bugs sewn into the material?”

“Of course not,” said Aoi, shocked. “Presents don’t have catches. I even tried it on before I-”

“Y-You wore it?” Touko flung it back onto the table, where it tumbled against the pile of unopened presents.

Aoi coloured. “Hey, you can just wash it!”

“Y-You didn’t clean it either,” said Touko, burying her fingers into her hair and unraveling the roots of her braids in consequence. “I’m going to hurl...!”

Makoto rubbed at the back of neck. “Maybe Fukawa-san should see what everyone else got her.”

“Yeah, open the rest,” said Aoi, holding up her fists.

Curiosity won over disobeying Aoi’s command just to spite her so Touko reached across the table, picking up the present in the chocolate wrapper. The purple foil crinkled as she tried to figure out what was inside without opening it.

“This one is from me, Fukawa-san,” said Sayaka. “Happy birthday.”

Touko ripped away the wrapper and shook the shredded remains over the table. From the foil confines fell out strands of red and golden thread woven together into a bracelet.

“It’s a friendship bracelet,” Sayaka told her, shoulders up and an idol’s smile pasted onto her face. “I’ve got one too so we can match.”

She flashed Touko her wrist, confirming the existence of an identical bracelet.

“It’s a double,” said Touko. “Y-You received an extra and decided to give it to me.”

Sayaka’s smile wilted. “That’s not right at all. I thought we could become better friends, Fukawa-san.”

Touko fidgeted with the bracelet and looked away.

Leon leaned forward and jabbed his finger toward a lump of newspaper. “Open my one next.”

Slipping her hand through the bracelet, Touko proceeded to unwrap Leon’s present. It clonked against the table when she set it down, more solid than the first two presents and not flexible at all. Her fingers picked at its sellotape binding and peeled away the paper, finally exposing the perfume bottle inside.

“Is this your way of telling me that I stink?” asked Touko, jerking her chair back to put more distance between her and that thing. Laughter rumbled in her head, faint but discernible enough that she wasn’t sure if she was imagining it or not.

“Actually, I just didn’t know what to get you,” Leon admitted. He placed a hand onto his hip and pushed his other hand back through his hair. “Girls dig perfume though, don’t they?”

Touko visualised herself being the Super High School Level Baseball Player and pitching the bottle at Leon’s head with perfect aim. Taking a deep breath and telling herself that he didn’t deserve to get under her trembling skin, she put the perfume down and reached for the next present.

Aluminum foil had been crumpled around it, the uneven surface making it more difficult to judge what was inside by sight. A few tugs pulled the foil apart and Touko held up a fountain pen.

“That’s from me,” came Kyouko’s voice, somewhere behind and to the right of Touko. “Happy birthday, Fukawa-san.”

“It’s a pen,” said Sayaka unnecessarily. “You can use it to write your stories.”

With a furrowed brow, Touko tested the pen on the tablecloth and found it contained black ink. The pen didn’t explode nor did it spurt liquid onto her or even onto the squiggle that she doodled. Not yet, anyway. Her lips pressed together and she released the pen in favour of grabbing a wad of paper towel that she assumed was another present.

“Ah, that’s mine,” said Makoto, to her left. “I’m sorry for the plain wrapping. None of us could find any traditional wrapping paper.”

“It suits you,” Touko replied in a curt tone. She thought she heard Byakuya let out a small laugh and grinned, plucking at the paper towel until her fingers grazed against metal and she extracted a hair barrette with a cat face glued to the top.

“Happy birthday, Fukawa-san,” said Makoto.

“This isn’t my style at all. I-It’s far too cute... and obnoxious...”

Junko squeezed through between Kyouko and Mondo and whipped the barrette out of Touko’s hand. Before Touko could respond, Junko fastened the barrette to Touko’s hair and stuck up a thumb.

“Cute and obnoxious, it fits you to a tee,” said Junko with a laugh laced with an amusement that Touko narrowed her eyes at. “Well, maybe you’d be cute if you tried smiling instead of looking so sour.”

Touko glowered.

“Then again, you’ve already got the whole gloomy literary girl image going on,” said Junko. She waved her hand. “Open my present now, ‘kay? It’s the one in bandages.”

The bandages stretched and deformed at Touko’s attempts at ripping them apart so she inserted her fingers into an air pocket and worked her way in. Her hand hit against something hard and she pulled the object out.

“I got you a brooch,” said Junko, showing teeth with her smile.

“It’s so pretty,” Sayaka breathed, head tilted to the side.

Yasuhiro bent forward to improve his view, poking Kyouko and Hifumi in the face with his hair. His eyes narrowed. “I wonder how much that would fetch in the market.”

Junko gestured toward the green gem bordered with golden. “It’s shaped like a scarab beetle. Cool, right?”

“Th-They are a type of dung beetle...” Touko’s jaw clenched. “Just what are you implying...?”

“I’m sure Enoshima-san just thought it would look good on you,” Makoto said quickly. Junko shrugged. He added, “Scarab beetles are pretty neat.”

“Neat,” repeated Touko in a flat tone.

“Hey.” Junko rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I got you one shaped like a stinkbug.”

Touko’s heart jolted. “A s-stinkbug?”

Junko smirked.

Kiyotaka averted his eyes from his wristwatch and said, “Now, now. There will be time for banter later... In an hour, to be precise, as that’s when I have it scheduled for. Anyway, Fukawa-kun, here is my present!”

Unlike the others so far, he had kept his present behind his back and brought his hand forward to give it to her. It was a stack of papers that she took a moment to skim through. The further she progressed, the slower she went.

“There are seven problems in there for you to solve,” Kiyotaka told her, evidently proud of his choice of gift. “That should be more than enough to occupy your time until we get out and receive a proper education. There is no need for you to thank me but I will accept any words expressing your elation.”

He set his hand onto her shoulder and squeezed.

Touko tensed. In a voice too low for him to hear, though certainly not too low intentionally, she said, “Elation... isn’t a word that I would use...”

Mondo stooped down to read over Touko’s shoulder and cocked his head. “Maths is for school, not birthdays.”

“Nonsense,” said Kiyotaka with a shake of his head. “Every birthday, I receive textbooks and other related materials.”

Junko stared at him. “You’ve never had a birthday party, have you?”

“No, why?”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Mondo gruffly. He glanced at Touko and then away. “Uh, my present is that one with the newspaper and glitter. I tried to make it fancy.”

To her disgust, the glue hadn’t dried yet and she had to smear what got onto her fingers across the table cloth. Obviously Mondo had scavenged around last minute for a present and obviously the present itself wouldn’t be anything worth her time. She lifted out a pair of earmuffs, the pads that went over the ears shaped like rabbit heads. Patches of fur were clumped together due to the glue that seeped through the gaps in the crinkled newspaper.

“Inabower,” remarked Celes with slight interest.

“That sounds like part of a ritual,” Yasuhiro mused, eyeing the earmuffs with caution.

“... It’s the name of the brand.”

Mondo tucked his hands into his pockets and offered a shrug. “They seemed cute, that’s all.”

Touko put the earmuffs with the other presents before Junko thought to force her to wear them as well. She pulled closer the nearest present, which happened to be the biggest, and scratched at the patchwork paper enclosing it.

Her eyes widened at what was underneath. It was an antique doll with blond ringlets and a ruffled dress, and she caressed its porcelain cheek with a single finger. Something so elegant, so beautiful, could only be from someone equally elegant and beautiful. Touko’s eyes fell onto Byakuya’s face. That person, who must have chosen this for her, that person must have been-

“Sakura-chan got you that,” said Aoi with a wide grin.

“... Oh.” Touko forced herself to make eye contact. “It’s...”

She swallowed.

“... nice.”

The shameful word brought heat to her face.

“You are welcome, Fukawa,” said Sakura, bowing her head forward. “Happy birthday.”

Aoi punched the air. “Woo! Way to go, Sakura-chan!”

Touko flushed and decided to open the first thing that her fumbling hand thumped into. Her fumbling hand thumped into a cube with an outer newspaper layer that she ripped through with ease. It was a box of rosehip tea bags.

“Happy birthday, Fukawa-san,” piped up Chihiro, fingers laced together.

“... It’s probably contaminated,” Touko said and she gave the box a feeble shove.

Chihiro’s cheeks warmed into a pink. “N-No, I would never do that to you. I promise that there’s nothing wrong with it. We’re all friends here...!”

She wondered if that claim was part of the present. Part of the present, part of the party, part of the trick they were all playing on her. Foreshadowing disguised as a joke. Only it couldn’t be those things. Byakuya wouldn’t take part in cruelty so childish.

“I think we’ve waited long enough now,” announced Yasuhiro, hands on his hips and his smugness an eye strain.

Everyone ignored him.

He coughed loudly.

Everyone looked at him.

“Waited long enough for what?” asked Hifumi, shifting his shoulders and hoisting the straps of his backpack into a more comfortable position. “Hagakure Yasuhiro-dono, are you finally displaying your secret technique?”

Yasuhiro flicked his wrist and opened his fist to reveal a silver ring with a murky blue gemstone. He smirked, twirling it as he showed it off to the rest of the group.

“I’ve totally blown you away, ‘right?” he said, rubbing his knuckles against his chest. “Someone else might have tried to prise the diamond out and give you just the ring, but this guy doesn’t have the right tools. Or a heart dark enough. Mostly that last part. Forget I said the first thing.”

“It’s fake,” said Byakuya.

“What?” asked Yasuhiro. His smile faltered.

Byakuya folded his arms over his chest. “I said it’s fake.”

“He’s right,” said Celes, peering at the ring. “What you thought to be a diamond is actually just a lump of glass. It’s a forgery... A poor one at that.”

Yasuhiro scrunched up his face. “For real?”

Celes interlocked her fingers. “Yes... for real.”

“That sucks.” His features smoothed out and he flashed a grin as he pressed the ring into Touko’s palm. “Here, it’s still pretty pretty, ‘right?”

“W-Wrong,” said Touko yet for some reason, she didn’t throw it at his face but laid it onto the table with the rest of her presents.

“Ahem.” Celes raised her hand. “I too thought to give you a ring as a present but unlike Hagakure-kun, I’m rather skilled at distinguishing copies from the originals.”

Her heels clacked against the tiles as she came forward, a glint of gold in her ivory hand. She stretched out her arm and placed the ring in front of Touko.

“Apparently it’s called an Affair Ring,” said Celes. “If you wear it on your left hand’s smallest finger, you should receive pure, innocent love. On your right hand, it should fill your life with passion and romance.”

Touko rolled the ring between her thumb and index finger. In the centre of the open heart forged into the ring was a pink gemstone polished enough to reflect her face.

“Should you wear it on both hands, something incredible and shocking will befall you.” Celes widened her eyes and gave a lipsticked smile. “Sadly, I could only obtain one, so you will have to tell me when you acquire another. I should like to see what will happen when you wear two simultaneously.”

The ring joined the rest of Touko’s opened presents. A quick count of them gave Touko a total of twelve, which left two that she had yet to unwrap though she couldn’t spot either of them.

“Ah, it’s my official introduction chapter now,” said Hifumi, waddling forward with a piece of paper hugged against his chest. He met Touko’s gaze and held out the piece of paper, shaking it a little as if she was a dog that needed movement to incite her interest.

She snatched it from him and stared down.

On the piece of paper was a single person drawn in black ink. The lines varied in thickness to give the illusion of depth, like the subject could pop out of their two-dimensional prison if they wished. Inside the lines, the colours harmonised, the almost black suit and the correction fluid white glasses, as well as the eyes that were the sea to the sand hues in the blond hair above.

Touko tightened her grip on the piece of paper.

Hifumi watched her twitching face with a grin and said, “I assume it’s to your liking, Fukawa Touko-dono? I know we are sworn enemies but I thought the best way to strike a critical hit was to create the perfect present.”

“Y-You turned him into an anime character!” Her grip crumpled, not tore, the piece of paper, and her voice increased in pitch. “His eyes aren’t supposed to be bulging... a-and where is his nose? Where is his beautiful nose?”

He prodded at a line on the face that looked like he drew it by mistake and forgot to erase it after.

She squinted and the fleck of ink blurred into nonexistence, returning only after her eyes relaxed.

“Oh my,” said Celes, looking over Touko’s shoulder.

“This must be what he looks like when he smiles,” Kyouko remarked.

“Is that supposed to be me?” asked Byakuya with disdain.

Leon snorted. “There ain’t no way his muscles are that big.” He peeked at Byakuya. “No way in Hell.”

Touko felt nearly as naked as the drawing.

“I think it’s cool,” said Yasuhiro, admiring the picture. “I have a loincloth just like that.”

“This may be in your interest, but I drew his body on a flap,” said Hifumi. “If you peel it back, like so,” he started to pull the flap toward them, “you will see behind it the uncensored ver-”

She pinched the flap shut, face aflame. “I can’t... n-not until we’re married...!”

Byakuya loudly cleared his throat and stepped forward. Celes and Kyouko moved to the side to unobstruct his view of Touko. He said, “It’s my turn to bestow my gift... also you are to throw that thing into the incinerator later.”

Touko trembled as she reached her hands out for his present. It was, her author’s mind informed her, the size of an A3 piece of paper only significantly thicker than a single sheet. Harder too, judging by how it refused to bend in her shaking hold, but Touko didn’t try to bend it too much at risk of tearing its green tissue paper wrapping and ruining the giddy suspense. Whatever it was would be precious and how she wished she could open it with just herself and him in the room, away from everyone else’s gawking eyes.

“Well?” said Byakuya. “Open it.”

She picked at the sellotape sticking down the corner folds of the tissue paper, persistently scratching until one end opened up and allowed the present to slip free.

A book fell out. Touko flipped to the first page. It was blank. Flicking through, she found all the pages were blank.

Byakuya waved a hand and said, “I thought that rather than give you a book which you might already own, I would give you a notebook that you can fill in yourself. Of course, there is a catch...”

Touko lifted her head. “A catch?”

He brushed his finger across the double page spread. “You are to write a story in this that you will give to me on my birthday. Fifth of May, that’s your deadline. Make sure it’s interesting.”

“You can write in it with Kirigiri-san’s gift,” Sayaka piped up, again unnecessarily.

Aoi furrowed her brow, mouthing unintelligible words. She clicked her fingers and fixed her eyes onto Byakuya. “Hey, your birthday is Children’s Day, right, Togami...?”

“Yes. It is. What of it?”

“Fukawa-chan’s birthday is on Doll’s Day,” explained Aoi. “Children’s Day used to be Boy’s Day and Doll’s Day is also called Girl’s Day... That’s pretty funny.”

Touko clapped her hands together, positively beaming. “Ah...! Th-That settles it...! We’re meant to be!”

“You’re speaking nonsense,” decided Byakuya, turning away. “I have no reason to be at this gathering for any longer...”

“At least stay for cake,” said Yasuhiro.

Byakuya glared at him.

He did stay for cake though. Touko left soon after with her presents but returned just before night-time officially began. The party had ended and had been tidied away, a stray balloon in the corner the only remainder of the festivities.

She picked it up and cradled it in her arms. Winding its ribbon tail around her finger, she muttered, “H-Happy birthday...”

A smile.

“... to me.”

 


End file.
